Cody's Back - Fingers Crossed

Well had he not gone through what he did this summer/fall/winter I wouldn't notice any difference in the old man.

Went out today at lunch, he was a bit slow and tender in the paddock (nothing new from past winters). Ran around the arena and rolled. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being completely sound, he'd be a 9-9.5 and that might just be how he is normally.

Pretty sure he's exactly how he was last winter, maybe a little stiff but I don't think he's feeling the foot thing any more at least on good footing.

So I did a little ground work and a little free lunging and then spent quite a few minutes getting him to stand still at the mounting block before I hopped on bareback (while he was walking away I might add). I might have picked a not great day to be on bareback with just the halter as the ice was sliding off the roof - whoops. He startled once and I startled once. But we survived. Only rode around for less than 10 minutes probably. Just walking and then worked on some turns on the forehand and haunches and some backing up. He's a lot more responsive bareback with a halter. I think I'll ride like that more often I think it makes me less naggy and more precise. And definitely not in his face.

So yay to that, it was a good day.

On the mend?

Had to run out and drop off the board check the other day so I grabbed Cody and threw him in the arena for a few minutes while I was there. He was still reluctant in the paddock but seemed to move a tiny bit better. Once he got to some deep snow he moved really well. In the arena he rolled and then ran around by himself without my encouragement. Pretty close to sound trot and canter. Even had a nice left lead canter. So it was a good day, he was feeling pretty good. Thank god for that!

Cody Update

Just a little update to how Cody is doing with his bout of Laminitis.  He was on bute for a week and even though he liked to walk away from when I went to fetch him and he'd toss his head a bit he was a pretty good patient and took his bute well.  He was feeling pretty good with the combo of bute and foam insulation in his boots.  I left the boots on for a week after the bute was done just to make sure.  I never did get a god answer from the vet on how long to leave the boots.  But it snowed and I figured I better take the boots off so they didn't get stuffed with snow.  The heat was gone from his hooves and the stocking up in his right front was gone.  And he was throwing some pretty decent bucks in the arena, so I think he was feeling pretty good.

So he had been out in the paddock for more than a week when the farrier came up for a trim.  He checked out his heels and all that and did his best to bring them down a bit so his feet were covering the ground as best they could but he had very little toe growth so there wasn't any nipping, just filing.  We agreed shoes this time of year would be a pain in the butt as well as nailing shoes on a sore foot isn't exactly everyone's favorite job.

A week after the farrier appointment, or maybe a little longer I went back out and threw Cody and Axel in the arena to blow off some steam.  Cody was really walking poorly out of the paddock but it's icy and bumpy and frozen and that seems to be his MO in the winter like that.  Even Axel was tip toeing around.  But with a little "encouragement" in the arena they both tore around and Cody started to look like his old self.  still the tiniest bit "off" on the right front so I'll be keeping an eye on that for sure.  I really hope this is behind us and I'm planning on shoeing in the spring from now on.  It has yet to be determined if we'll have to shoe all around or just fronts.

I'm buying another used saddle and I'd really like to try it out so I hope Cody is getting back to riding condition.  Mommy's getting a Crosby Prix St. George dressage saddle - yum.

Laminitis

So we think it all started mid-late summer.  Cody is always kind of tender footed that's why we put hoof boots on him when we ride anywhere that isn't the arena.  But it started to get to the point where he couldn't even walk from the pasture to the barn without looking like he was going to fall over in pain.  A few other horses were having some foot issues around the same time so we chalked it up to the weather and the ground hardness.  So we put some shoes on him and he got a little better.  But he was never quite right after that.  We pulled the shoes at the beginning of November and he remained not quite right.  We gave him some time off and evaluated him again.  He was hard to figure out.  He'd go from lame, to sore, to lazy all in a few minutes and we couldn't ever really tell which leg was bothering him.  It was kind of vague and hard to pinpoint.  So he had a little more time off.  I was out there last week and he was worse than before so I called the vet and put some boots on him.

The vet made it out the next afternoon and by then he'd been in the boots for 24 hours and was looking quite a bit better.  He did test sore with the hoof testers on the sole of his foot.  But judging how tender he usually is that alone wasn't really indicative of anything specific.  He was also reactive to concussion on the hoof wall which the vet said could indicate laminitis.  He figured it was a pretty mild case and we couldn't really determine why.  He was off sweet feed already, he's not a fat horse, so it pretty much leaves something like "road founder" from hard ground, maybe from stomping flies.  Might just be one of those things.  He had a similar issue several years ago, a round of bute and shoes fixed it up at the time.

So Cody is on 2g of bute a day for 7 days to reduce any inflammation.  And the vet recommended pink foam insulation duct taped to his feet.  The alternatives being special boots ($190) with special orthotics ($90), or corrective shoeing.  We figured trying the insulation was the cheapest route and he had the best luck with it apparently.

Instead of using just the duct tape I figured we'd put the foam in his boots, I thought that would keep it on a lot better than just tape.  So he's had 5 doses of bute and has been wearing his boots with the foam in it.  And he seems like he's feeling pretty good these days.  They put a different horse in the pen with them this weekend and I guess there was a lot of running around and Cody looked like he was feeling just fine.

So the bute will be done tomorrow and Cody will be happy for that.  He's not a big fan of how the bute tastes.  Surprisingly he's been pretty decent about it though.  He yanks his head up about 4-5 times and then he just stands there and lets me put it into the corner of his mouth.  So in the grand scheme that's not too horrible if you ask me.  He has been "running" away from me now though, really just walking away when he sees me coming.  I think that'll stop when I stop making he eat gross tasting medicine.  I'll have to make sure to give him some treats when I go out there for a while after the meds are done.

After the week of bute we'll have to see how he does.  I'm thinking I give him the rest of the week in the boots with the foam to give the bute a chance to wear off.  Then maybe no boots for the weekend and we'll see how he is.

More Lame Horses

Cody's been "nqr" (not quite right) for a while now.  I was hoping he'd be better after a few weeks off but I was just out to check on him and boo he's not better, in fact he might be worse.  So I bit the bullet and called the vet and left a message.  I'm hoping he can diagnose without xrays cuz that's wicked crazy expensive (and a different vet has to do it cuz my vet doesn't have an xray machine).  Though if it's what I think it is it might only take 1 picture per hoof so that wouldn't be too bad. Merry Christmas Cody!

So anyway it was tough pulling him away from the hay feeder and he would hardly move, kind of parked out rocked back on his heels.  It seemed like it was both fronts bothering him. His right front is stocked up but even after cleaning out his hooves and getting him in the arena footing he was favoring both feet.  (still willing to roll of course)

His front hooves are warm compared to the backs.  Not hot and I can't feel a pulse but they are definitely different than the back ones.  So I'm thinking he's foundering or has laminitis or something like that.  Last time this happened was the first time I had him shod and he was fixed right away but we had just shoes on him this fall and he still wasn't quite right so it might take some meds for inflammation and maybe special shoeing (usually they put pads on and the shoes on backwards sometimes) and maybe some diet changes.
So we'll see what the vet says.  Hopefully he calls back soon and can come out this week still. 
I put on his old hoof boots on with the old pastern wraps and I found a scissors and cut down the gel pads and put those in the boots as well. He was walking better with the boots on but still a little gun shy I think.

Boy does he look low backed in this photo, someone needs to do some sit ups.

And they are definitely getting the hang of the hay net. The barn owners picked up one of those big round bale nets to try and slow the pigs down and save on waste and it seems to be doing the trick.  I'm secretly hoping the slow in feeding will make Axel's swelling go away, but it's only been two weeks and he's still my big pregnant gelding.

Pardon Axel's *ahem*